Do RCI people really get the worst rooms?

[Bonita]

Hi, I booked my very first timeshare week to be used this May at Palm Beach Shores Resort. I bought last year but this is my first chance to use it. I am a little concerned because I read somewhere that RCI people get the worst rooms. Is that always true? Will my husband and I be looking at the parking lot this May? I appreciate everyone's help.
Bonnie

 

[JLB]

If you are talking about that specific resort, I don't know the answer.

Does the exchange confirmation have a unit number?

At resorts in general, I don't believe many discriminate against RCI, although I just did have a bit of a run-in with the general manager at a FL resort where he made it perfectly clear, in no uncertain terms, that he does discriminate against RCI guests. Matters of that nature should be reported to RCI, as I have, and we are still waiting for the resort's response.

Back to room assignments, the only way we have ever gotten lesser rooms in our 100 exchanges was through lack of knowledge on our part. Most exchanges are into specific units. You can call RCI and find out which units are Spacebanked. When you get familiar with a resort, you can pass on units you don't like until they have one you like.

Be bold, take charge. The first time I considered an exchange into a resort we had never been, and that since become one of our favorites, I called the resort. When they answered I said, "Is there an owner standing around?" There was and I asked him how the resort was oriented and what rooms had what views.

Now I know only to take units ending in 5, 6 7 or 8. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are parking lot views and the others are water views.

In the majority of exchanges, you get the unit you exchanged for, the unit the other RCI member deposited.

In the resorts that assign units, normally the week of checkin, it can be a crapshoot, but we have done well at them, too, typically getting the best units.

So, from my take. RCI folks getting the scraps is just an urban myth. Well, sometimes suburban, sometimes country, sometimes beach, sometimes lake, sometimes golf course . . .

 

[abbekit]

I also can't speak directly about this resort but in all of our trades with RCI (20+) we've never been given a substandard unit as RCI members. In fact several times (with Silverleaf resorts) in know we were treated better because we were RCI traders.

Usually resorts want their RCI traders to be happy since it affects their ratings.

I agree though, be proactive. Phone the resort in advance (even if you have a unit number assigned to you in advance) and ask nicely for what you want. Do your research (read all the reviews you can find) and see if there is a particular building, unit number, view, floor preference, etc. that you would like the best, then phone and ask for it, ask again as you check in. Sometimes you get it, sometimes not, but it often helps to ask.

I follow that procedure even when staying in hotels. Often others in our group will say "how did you get such a nice room with a great view and I got stuck looking at the parking garage roof". Well, I asked!

 

[bccash63]

Last July we had an exchange at Breezy Point in MN. When I called the resort they said they did not assign units before check-in and could only tell me that with a Sat check-in in a 2 br 6/4 I would be located in one of three locations. One on the golf course, one in the woods, and only one that was lakeside with an outdoor pool. She said we could give a preference but they wouldn't know until check-in. We definitely wanted the lakeside w/the pool.
I called the week before and they said yes they had our preference listed but we had to wait until check-in. I called on the drive up and we had a unit exactly where we wanted to be--lakeside with the only outdoor pool! It pays to call and check and follow-up if they don't have an answer at that time. Dawn

 

[guitarlars]

Sometimes it happens

It does happen that if you're trading in you will get a less desirable room that an owner. Not everywhere, and I'm not sure I agree with this philosophy, but can understand that an owner would get the nicer room if push came to shove.

At the Melia in Cancun we were initially assigned to a "basement" room looking out towards the parking lot (I think so anyway, we had to look up to see the lot).

We asked to have a different room and were told no - I clearly sensed that these were the exchanger rooms. At the same time they were trying to sign us up for a "short presentation". As soon as we told them that we couldn't see going since we wouldn't want to own based on the room we had seen a nice ocean view room magically became available. I don't like being a liar but we never did make it to the presentation.

Lars

 

[london]

RCI Exchanger Accomodations

We have found that resorts in general try to satisfy RCI guests concerning unit locations, if possible.

On some exchanges you are assigned to the exact unit that was deposited by the resort owner to RCI.

Resorts with floating units, will most likely give a preference to resort owners.

We have done internal exchanges, and have rec'd unit assignment preference when checking in.

 

[grest]

I don't think we have ever had a sub-standard unit as RCI exchangers....we do generally call ahead and ask for what we want, though..
Connie

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

It also helps to arrive early at the check-in desk. If there are 20 check-ins scheduled for a particular day and there are 20 units available, the person who arrives last is going to get the only remaining unit. But the person who arrives early may be able to get a room switch. (It's worked that way for us several times.)

It's also important to be nice to the person who is handling check-in. If you start sounding demanding, argumentative, or whiny I think the person's motivation for helping you goes down.

****

BTW - Being polite with airline gate agents also helps. Gate agents have a lot of power to make some things happen. When a flight is canceled and people are taking out frustrations on the gate agent, sometimes giving him or her a reason to smile and relax can get you something extra. They might just happen to find a seat for you on a flight that hasn't been offered to others. Or you might magically find your name at the top of the standby list for the next flight even though you might have been one of the later ones processed. You might find yourself comped with an upgrade. Perhaps you get a voucher that others haven't gotten.

 

[caribbean]

Bonnie-

Some resorts do assign the worst units to exchangers, some give you the actual unit that was deposited, some it it the luck of a draw. I have heard many say that Palm Beach Shores assigns the road side to exchangers.

Here is what I recommend. Take pen to paper ( not e-mail ) and send a request to them 2-3 weeks ahead of check-in. Tell them this is your first visit to the area and are really looking forward to your long awaited vacation. Tell them how nice it would be to have a view of the water and how excited you are to visit their resort after all of the nice things you have heard. I did. I asked for a unit on a higher floor, preferably on the exterior side, and that is exactly where they put me. An interior room facing on the pool can be loud. Worked for me, can't hurt to try.

Good luck

 

[Bonita]

Thanks everyone for their comments. I am going to write a letter, call, arrive as early as my flight allows, and then be as sweet as pie to everyone and anyone that can help me get an oceanview room. If anyone out there has any experience with what rooms to request at Palm Beach Shores, I sure would appreciate hearing it. Thanks everyone. Stay warm. The wind was 45mph, temp 12, this morning coming into work here in Ohio. Now you know why I am anxious to feel the sun and see the ocean.
Bonnie

 

[AwayWeGo]

Got Outstanding Top-Quality Timeshare Unit On R. C. I. "Instant Exchange."

On exchange at a BlueGreen timeshare near St. Augustine FL recently, we got assigned not just to a deluxe 1BR unit (larger side of a 2BR lock-off), but got an outstanding top-floor unit featuring a high cathedral ceiling with skylight in the living room. Who'd a-thunk?

We couldn't have asked for anything nicer. We received 1st class treatment all the way.

Our reservation was not just via RCI, but actually was a bargain-basement Instant Exchange (7,500 points + exchange fee).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[JLB]

It's right on schedule, then, having gone through here yesterday afternoon. 70 degress and then 3 hours later in the 20s. Teens overnight.

The wind was 45mph, temp 12, this morning coming into work here in Ohio.

 

[Cathyb]

jlb: Is it illegal for timeshare resorts to discriminate against exchangers? I have taken it for granted that being an exchanger you will be given a less than desired unit. I was told at Sedona's Arroyo Roble there is a section of timeshares strictly for us exchangers (away from the Creek )

Actually I would hope my owned resorts would give me as an owner the ocean or Creek views over exchangers. It only seems fair as I paid big bucks for some of them!

 

[Cathyb]

Bonnie: Laguna Surf in Laguna Beach, CA is a great example: If you get oceanfront units they are bright and cheery with a patio that faces the ocean waves -- absolutely gorgeous! However exchangers gets the street side, very noisy traffic, dark rooms not necessarily as updated as the oceanview ones. We got the latter as exchangers just last summer

 

[AwayWeGo]

Exchangers = Owners. Owners = Exchangers. Mox Nix.

I would hope my owned resorts would give me as an owner the ocean or Creek views over exchangers. It only seems fair as I paid big bucks for some of them!

Yes, owners should get to enjoy the best their timeshares have to offer. Why not? They paid for it.

By the same token, when I reserve somebody else's timeshare on exchange -- or, say, by direct rental from the individual owner -- I should get everything the owner would have got if the owner had been checking in himself or herself instead of allowing me to check in as the owner's exchange-surrogate.

Exchangers are not 2nd class citz. Exchangers are substitute owners -- just for that specific resort time that's being exchanged to be sure, but quasi-owners just the same. That's what exchange means. I give you what I've got in exchange for receiving from you what you've got -- not almost what you've got or approximately what you've got, but exactly what you've got, the same as what you get from me.

Having I-I or RCI involved as a middleman doesn't change the reality that exchangers are there checking in at owners' timeshares in place of the owners -- not as some lower order of interlopers at the resort who can be stuck with the shabby & worn out units.

And don't even get me started on timeshare resorts that see fit to charge exchange guests extra fees, etc., for services & features for which the owners are not charged extra. Not fair. Not right. Not ethical. Not proper. Not acceptable. Not true to the concept of timeshare exchange.

Sheesh.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[DebDofSuwanee]

Hi, I booked my very first timeshare week to be used this May at Palm Beach Shores Resort. I bought last year but this is my first chance to use it. I am a little concerned because I read somewhere that RCI people get the worst rooms. Is that always true? Will my husband and I be looking at the parking lot this May? I appreciate everyone's help.
Bonnie

We used that resort as an Exchange in 2017 and got a corner room with a view over the side of the resort looking over the public park next door. The view of the beach was at an angle. I asked for a better view but the front desk won't do anything but say they are full. I don't know if the tips listed in this thread will work but for the past 3 exchanges we got the less desirable rooms.

 

[rapmarks]

Bigger resorts have more flexibility as to room assignments, those are ones that put you in less desirable units. Smaller resorts are most likely to place you in whatever unit was reserved when deposited. I said likely, doesn’t always happen

 

[OldGuy]

Thinking back over (nearly) 30 years of exchanges, more than 160 of them, I have no evidence of being discriminated against because we came in through RCI, except for one time at Westgate VV, and that was because of a long-lasting feud between Ms. DeHaan and Mr. Seigel. That was early on, and we were actually owners, but came in on an RCI Extra Vacation, and they treated us like doo-doo because they did not recognize us as owners.

Actually, in many instances we actually got the best units IMHO. Having been to and being familiar with many resorts, my experience is that most do not or cannot change from the unit that was deposited with RCI.

Nice, really old, thread.

 

[JohnPaul]

BTW - Being polite with airline gate agents also helps. Gate agents have a lot of power to make some things happen. When a flight is canceled and people are taking out frustrations on the gate agent, sometimes giving him or her a reason to smile and relax can get you something extra. They might just happen to find a seat for you on a flight that hasn't been offered to others. Or you might magically find your name at the top of the standby list for the next flight even though you might have been one of the later ones processed. You might find yourself comped with an upgrade. Perhaps you get a voucher that others haven't gotten.

That has certainly been my experience. I've had my replacement flights upgraded to first class several times due to being nice.

Years ago, we were in Tucson at Christmas and Seattle was snowed in. We were very nice to the agents and they let us fly from Tucson (vs Phoenix where we were ticketed from due to lower fares) and made an exception to the rules to let us fly to an international destinations - Vancouver, BC - since we couldn't get to Seattle.

This was after having driven to Phoenix for our original flight which didn't go and not being rescheduled until the next day.

 

[Panina]

Whether it’s RCI or II it depends on the resort and what their policy is.

I have found with the larger chain Resorts, which are highly desirable, almost always I have been given the worse locations. I trade into these resorts knowing and accepting this as I chose to trade into them because they are in a desirable location, have nice units, might be a high demand time or have great amenities.

Most independent resorts usually put you in the unit that was deposited but some do not.

 

[Magic1962]

Hi, I booked my very first timeshare week to be used this May at Palm Beach Shores Resort. I bought last year but this is my first chance to use it. I am a little concerned because I read somewhere that RCI people get the worst rooms. Is that always true? Will my husband and I be looking at the parking lot this May? I appreciate everyone's help.
Bonnie

We have only traded through RCI since time sharing and always call the Timeshare 2 weeks before we are to be there... we tell them what we would like... and never have been let down.... we got high floors facing the fireworks at Bonnet Creek, high floors 2 bedroom facing the Ocean in Hawaii.... I am sure it will catch us sometime, but no complaints yet.... Dave

 

[Firepath]

I can only speak regarding Disney (DVC) as we own there and have exchanged in as well. The rooms and locations we have been assigned has been equally good, in fact we usually get the area we request, booking with our own points or exchanging in.

 

[Jan M.]

If it is our first time staying at a resort and I don't know how the units are assigned or what view or where certain unit types are in the resort I call both RCI and the resort. At some resorts you will absolutely be in the unit your reservation is for unless there is a major problem taking the unit out of service.

I will use Vanderbilt Beach and Harbor Club in Naples, FL as an example because we've stayed there before so I'm familiar with the resort. There are two buildings one is on the Gulf and the other is across the street on the Vanderbilt Lagoon. After I call RCI to find out the unit number on my reservation I call the resort to ask which building that unit is in because I know if my reservation is for the Lagoon side building that is the building we will be in and they won't move us to the Gulf side building.

My second example would be the Las Olas Beach Club in Cocoa Beach, FL. They reserve the right to assign the units. When I called RCI I found out that our reservation was for a beach front unit but as I expected when we arrived we were placed in a unit with no view of the ocean and facing the pool.

When I say as I expected I mean that I was being realistic because it was early February, peak season, and I had just made our reservation a month earlier. Most times the resorts that assign the units themselves will tell you something like we will try or do our best. Don't take false hope from that. You may be lucky once in a while but don't show up with the expectation that you will get what you asked for. It is much better to be pleasantly surprised than profoundly disappointed and unhappy about the unit you are in the whole time you are there.

 

[rickandcindy23]

In our experience, as I see with others, we have had great unit assignments and have not been given a unit that we thought was bottom of the barrel.